


combinations and permutations

by sarsoor



Series: here we go [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Ace Percy, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, basically a story i wrote exclusively to put my hcs to good use, because I said so, but with a twist, it's the coffee shop trope, math whiz annabeth, mindless nonsense, no i did not tag him because he does not deserve the recognition, sometimes you just have to ignore your wips and write something dumb, yes i made luke the only villain in the whole story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:34:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29034000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarsoor/pseuds/sarsoor
Summary: the college coffee shop au nobody asked for
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Clarisse La Rue/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano (background), Jason Grace/Piper McLean
Series: here we go [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131344
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	combinations and permutations

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thanks for reading my little story. I wrote this over the course of many months, and basically just worked on a section or two any time I felt like I needed to write something but didn't have the motivation to work through my WIPs. It started as an excuse to shove my two favorite headcanons into one story (Annabeth has a calculator for a brain and Percy is ace (no I will not explain I will simply project thank you)) and now it is this absolute monstrosity. It’s split into two parts, first semester and second. Full disclosure, I have no idea when the second part will be posted (sorry).  
> -There is a section here that briefly deals with women feeling unsafe in public spaces. It's just a short interaction and doesn't escalate into anything major but if you wanna skip it I'll mark it with a little *~* to let you know where it is  
> -The characters are in university so there's some of the I-hate-my-life/kill-me stuff typical of college kids in here but it's not at all serious. Just wanted to let you know ahead of time in case.  
> Hope you enjoy!

Percy sees her for the first time on a Tuesday. 

The bell over the door chimes as he cleans the espresso machine, and he glances over his shoulder to see a flurry of golden hair, fluffy pink earmuffs, and a reddened nose. 

Never mind the fact that it’s September, and not nearly cold enough for frostbitten cheeks or winter wear. She’s dressed as if she has just come in from braving a snowstorm, and she looks so soft in the early morning light that Percy’s hand slips and he burns himself on the steamer.

He winces and shakes out his hand, the machine hissing as if mocking him for acting like such a fool, and when he looks back over his shoulder she is out of sight, just like that. Jason tosses an empty cup at Percy’s head, he catches it, fumbling with his newly burned hand, and reads the name.

Anna Beth. 

Interesting.

What is more interesting is the long list of ingredients that go into making her drink: six different types of syrup, steamed milk, and an assortment of different drizzles that just…they should not be combined. He does it anyway, works through getting the order together exactly as it is written, and when he is done, he calls out her name.

“Anna Beth,” he calls, placing the drink on the counter.

She looks up from her phone, then, and Percy recognizes for the first time that she is wearing mittens. Not just any mittens, but detachable mittens, ones that could be buttoned back in the event that you might need all five of your fingers out and ready to go. It makes him smile, perhaps a bit too widely, and he bites the inside of his cheek as he meets her eyes.

Her fucking _eyes_. Sharp and piercing, a color he’s never really seen before, caught somewhere between denim and silver, piercing like the steam that has burned him on more occasions than one, reminiscent of the storm-clouds he used to race home to beat when he walked back from school as a kid. He is so caught up in staring at them that he hardly hears her correct him.

“It’s Annabeth,” she says, sounding congested.

“Yeah. Anna Beth.”

“No. No pause between. Just…Annabeth.”

“Annabeth.”

She nods once. 

“Exactly. Have a good one.”

And then she is gone as suddenly as she appeared and Percy knits his eyebrows as he turns to face Jason.

“Was she wearing a puffer jacket and snow boots?” he asks, and Jason nods as he finishes taking someone’s order and places it on the counter beside him, where four cups have stacked up.

Percy’s eyes widen as he picks up the first two, gets back to work.

“She was,” Jason says. “Weird kid. Asked for six kinds of syrup? Do you think we should tell her how much sugar she’s consuming?”

“Don’t know if that would stop her,” Percy mutters.

“You’re right. She definitely already knows.” He pauses. “She’s a little scary.”

Percy grins.

“Hope she’s a regular.” He puts two lids on the two drinks before him. “Ahmad!”

“Who do we hope is a regular?” Reyna asks as she enters from the back, begins filling up the pastry case with baked goods. 

“Earmuffs,” Jason says.

“Annabeth,” Percy corrects.

“Someone named Annabeth came in here wearing earmuffs? It’s 60 degrees out,” their manager says. Realization dawns on her face. “Oh, God, I think she’s one of my residents.”

“Wait, like—you’re her RA?” Percy asks, then looks at the cup in his hand. “Eugene!”

“It’s Flynn, actually,” someone calls out, and Jason smirks.

Dumb fuckin’ Disney nerd.

“You are such a fucking geek,” Percy tells him.

“Oh yeah? Well, you’re obsessed with someone who consumes 12,000 grams of sugar every morning.”

“I am not obsessed. I’m simply intrigued.”

“Well, be intrigued some other time,” Reyna interrupts. “Shut up and get back to work.”

Jason and Percy raise their eyebrows at each other and Reyna smacks them both in the back of their heads as she walks into the kitchen. Although their manager is now a senior and has mentally checked out of absolutely everything, she does seem to love scolding them every chance she gets. They listen to her, because they know what’s good for them, and Percy does his best to put the adorable weirdo in the snow pants to the back of his mind.

~

She becomes a regular. 

Every Tuesday through Friday, she comes into the cafe and orders a different drink, each one filled to the brim with sugar, though she’s not always dressed as though it is 0 degrees outside. Percy learns from Reyna that she had been sick with a fever that day and probably should not have been out and about if it was affecting her so severely, but she is just a regular and it is none of his business. 

A weird part of him wishes it was.

By the time her third week rolls around he is ready to burst at the seams, not having spoken to her since she corrected his pronunciation the first time. Every day he calls out her name, she tells him to have a good one, and she is out the door before he can say anything else. Although she hasn’t come in yet today, he is certain it will be exactly like the others.

He purses his lips as he finishes the last order of the morning rush and cleans up the dairy station as he finally brings it up.

“So it’s not winter _every_ day,” Percy remarks, and Jason looks at him in confusion.

“Huh?”

“She’s not always dressed like she’s ready to go skiing,” he says, and Jason gapes at him.

“Wait—you’re still—talking about Earmuffs?”

“Annabeth.”

“Whatever,” Jason says. “Holy shit. You’re like—you are wholly invested.”

“I am not invested.”

“Piper!” Jason calls, and Piper sticks her head through the kitchen window. “Percy’s obsessed with the curly blonde girl who dresses for winter in September.”

Piper knits her eyebrows.

“Who?”

“You don’t listen to me anymore,” Jason sighs. “I’ve definitely told you about her.”

“You probably have, and I’ve probably been distracted trying to get you naked.”

Percy grimaces.

“Please. Not in front of the muffins. They’re too young for this,” Percy pleads, gesturing to the tray cooling on the counter, and Piper rolls her eyes.

“Shut up, bitch. _You_ haven’t told me about her.” She tilts her head, her long, dark braid falling off her shoulder. “Why haven’t you told me about her?”

“I dunno,” he mutters, focusing very intently on cleaning up some spilled almond milk. 

“Holy shit you’re in love with her,” Jason says. 

“I am _not_ ,” Percy denies. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I mean, she’s pretty, sure, but—”

“What's she like? My type?” Piper interrupts, and Jason shrugs.

“Maybe. She looks like me.”

Piper cackles wildly and Percy rolls his eyes.

“She does not look like you, numbskull,” Percy says. “Your hair is like, platinum blonde. Hers is golden. And curly. And her eyes are almost silver, and she’s tanner and has freckles and—”

He stops himself when he realizes he is rambling and his friends are gaping at him, slacked-jawed.

“Holy shit,” Piper breathes. “You think she’s so gorgeous that you’re describing her _at length_ —”

“Aren’t you like…indifferent to that or whatever?” Jason asks, and Piper grimaces at him as Percy glares.

“I’m asexual, not blind, asshole,” Percy says, snapping his damp towel at Jason’s forehead. 

He can’t deny the satisfaction he feels at watching his friend wince and rub the spot gently.

“She’s gorgeous, obviously. But it’s not just that. She wears earmuffs. _Earmuffs_. And mittens. And all her drinks are pure sugar and she looks like she wants to murder everyone all the time but she’s also really fluffy and...oh God.”

He buries his face in his hands.

“I wanna hold her hand so bad,” he and Jason say simultaneously, Percy groaning, Jason whining in a bad impression of his friend.

“Fuck you,” Percy says. “You don’t know me. I’m unknowable.”

“You are an open fucking book, Percy Jackson,” Piper says. “The only unknowable thing about you is what it takes to get you to shut the fuck up.”

Percy throws his rag at her face and she ducks just in time for it to go soaring past her head.

“Do you even know her name?” Piper asks, and he purses his lips.

“Annabeth,” he says, and Piper gapes at him.

“Sorry—come again?”

“Annabeth.”

“Annabeth _Chase_?”

Percy knits his eyebrows.

“I don’t exactly know her last name—”

“Annabeth Chase is my best friend!” Piper shouts, and those who are seated in the cafe look over at the commotion.

“ _What_?” Percy exclaims. 

“I thought I was your best friend,” Jason pouts.

“Actually, that’s me,” Percy says.

“Leo is my best friend you losers,” she corrects, and they gape at her. “What? I’ve known him longer than either of you.”

“You fucking snake, take that back!” Percy exclaims.

“You don’t even need me, you have Hazel and Grover!” Piper shoots back.

“He has _me_ ,” Jason says.

Percy screws up his face.

“Well…I have Hazel and Grover.”

Jason’s jaw drops.

“Am I _nobody’s_ best friend? What the fuck is this? This is a disgrace!”

“You’re a _dissed Grace_ ,” Piper says, and Percy gags.

“Christ, this is why Hazel’s my best friend.”

“Asshole.”

“Honestly, do I have no best friends?” Jason mutters.

“People can have multiple best friends it’s not a competition, you little bitch,” Percy says, then turns back to Piper. “Please. The important stuff. How do you know Annabeth the Regular?”

“We were roommates all throughout high school. We’ve been through the shits together,” Piper says. “She went to school in California last year but she transferred here this semester.”

“And you didn’t introduce her to us, _why_?” Percy exclaims. 

“Well, you don’t exactly have the most open schedule in the world,” Piper defends. “You’re always either swimming or working or sleeping. I barely get to see you outside the cafe.”

Percy frowns.

“I’m poor. I need rent money and scholarship money,” he says sadly, and she pouts.

“I know. I’m sorry, Perce. I wasn’t saying—”

He waves his hand dismissively.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” 

“Wait, why didn’t you introduce her to _me_?” Jason asks, and Piper purses her lips.

“I’m worried you’re too…similar?” she says uncertainly. “Like, you’re both huge nerds who are really prideful and headstrong and—”

“Wow, you have a type don’t you?” Percy says, and Piper grins.

“Well, Annabeth and I did date for a while back in the day.”

“ _What_?” Jason and Percy exclaim simultaneously.

“Is that why you didn’t introduce us?” Jason asks. 

Piper rolls her eyes.

“I just told you why. Who doesn’t listen to who, now?”

Jason frowns.

“I’d like to meet your ex-girlfriend who is apparently still your best friend.”

“She’s always been my best friend. It just didn’t work out romantically.”

“Well, regardless.”

Piper nods.

“I promise. She’s also super busy, you know, so it’s hard.”

“Introduce us today,” Jason says, and Percy gapes at him.

“What?” Percy says.

“She comes in every Thursday at noon. It’s only 10. Two hours ’til showtime.”

“You have her schedule memorized?” Percy asks.

“No, I have _your_ schedule memorized, and every Thursday at noon you get weird and antsy and start trying to fix your hair as if it’s ever gonna do anything but poof out everywhere,” Jason says, and Percy juts out his lower lip.

“You love me, you really do,” he says, and Jason raises his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I fucking do, but apparently _Grover_ is more worthy than me—”

“I’ve known Grover since we were 11—”

“Our dads are literally _brothers_ —”

“They are _not_ —”

“Well they may as well be—”

“Oh, is your dad an Egyptian mafioso? No? Then shut the fuck up, Grace—”

“Both of you, enough!” Piper exclaims.

They both close their mouths and stare at Piper as she purses her lips.

“Introducing you all today could work,” she mutters.

“No—no, it can’t work. It shan’t work. It won’t work—”

“Did we break Percy?” Jason asks.

“I think we did,” Piper says.

“No introductions!” Percy exclaims, and again the shop quiets as the bell chimes and they all look to the door to see the woman of the hour entering the cafe two hours ahead of schedule.

“Holy fucking shit,” Percy whispers, frozen in place.

“This is gonna be fun,” Jason says, rubbing his hands together like the evil rat he is.

“Beth!” Piper exclaims, coming out from the back to greet her friend in a hug over the counter. “You’re here!”

“Pipes, what the hell?” Annabeth says, hugging her back. “You don’t work.”

Piper pulls back and shrugs.

“Reyna lets me eat the reject cookies in the back so I drop by to admire Jason’s ass from time to time and have my morning snack,” she explains, and Annabeth grins widely, raises her eyebrows.

“Well, where is he, then?” Annabeth asks, and Piper gapes at her, then points to Jason.

Her eyes widen.

“You— _you’re_ Piper’s Jason?” she says, shocked, and he smiles and nods.

“At your service,” he responds, offering her his hand, and she shakes it slowly.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t even recognize you—I’ve seen so many pictures but I never put two and two together.”

He waves his hand dismissively.

“That’s alright,” he says, and Percy nearly chokes trying to hold back his laughter.

“He has a very forgettable face,” Percy says before he can stop himself, and he feels his eyes widen of their own accord.

Jason throws his Sharpie at Percy’s forehead but he catches it just in time.

“Annabeth, this is one of my closest friends, Percy,” Piper introduces, and Percy waves from his spot behind them.

“Hello,” he says, then chides himself for the way his voice shakes. 

“Hi,” Annabeth responds, half-laughing. “You make my ridiculous drinks every day.”

He clears his throat. 

“I do,” he says. “Two pumps of caramel, mocha, toffee, vanilla, blueberry, and raspberry? Are you, like…alright?”

She rolls her eyes.

“If you must know,” she begins, “I intend to drink every possible combination of flavors in existence. I’ve been at it for seven years. This is only the beginning.”

Percy gapes at her.

“There’s like…there’s too many. That’s a bajillion fucking coffees.”

“It’s actually 262,124. If I were to order one a day for the rest of my life, assuming I live to the average life expectancy of a white woman in America which is 81.1 years old, it would take me about 649 years to drink them all. If I drank 3 a day, that would _still_ take me another 170 years to get the rest. If I were to drink 7 a day, I’d have 33.5 years left. _But_ —”

“Holyfuckingshit,” Jason breathes.

“—if I were to drink 10 a day and live an extra three or so years, it might be possible.”

“I hate to break it to you but you are _not_ living to 84 by drinking ten cups of coffee a day,” Jason says.

She shrugs.

“Cynics be damned. Hasn’t killed me yet.”

“ _What_?” Jason exclaims. “You don’t actually drink 10 cups of coffee a day, do you?”

“I taste test,” she says. “Sample them.”

Percy realizes, then, that all this talk about mixing flavors has put a bad taste in his mouth.

“So you spend, what, 60 dollars a day just to taste different coffees?” he says. “Don’t you think that’s a bit wasteful and—privileged?”

She narrows her eyes at him.

“Who says I _buy_ the coffees, Peter?” she says defensively. 

“Percy,” he mutters.

She ignores him.

“You think with a system like mine it’s sustainable to walk into a coffee shop 10 times a day? I supply my own products.”

He purses his lips.

“Well,” Piper cuts in, “I think it’s fuckin’ whacky and it’s what made me fall in love with you. What combination are you on right now?”

Annabeth is still sending Percy a death-glare and he is still kicking himself for assuming that one of Piper’s best friends would be someone so wasteful. He averts his gaze.

“Well, I’ve had 5 today and I’m still on the sixes, so…” She pulls out her phone and taps around a bit. “It’s gonna be coconut, caramel, mocha, toffee, hazelnut, and vanilla today.” She exhales in relief. “Thank God I found something normal. I thought I'd run out of the good ones.”

Jason and Percy gape at her and she blinks back at them, entirely impassive.

“So…can I get that drink?” she says, and Jason springs to action, putting the order in and sticking the ticket on the cup.

Percy takes it from him dumbly and gets to work as Annabeth, Piper and Jason start talking about other things. He does his best not to eavesdrop but there isn’t exactly a lot of room behind the counter and the most distance he can get is if he hangs out by the display case. He sticks a lid on her drink once it’s done and hands it to her.

“Sorry,” he says. “About before. Shouldn’t have assumed.” 

Annabeth gives him a once over and nods.

“It’s fine. If I thought someone was being so wasteful I’d probably put them on my shit list, too,” she says, and he laughs.

She grins and takes a sip of her drink, then knits her eyebrows as she looks down at the cup.

“Damn you,” she mutters, then looks up at him. “You make a fuckin’ phenomenal cup of coffee, even if you’re kind of a dick.” He grins as she pauses. “It’s alright, I guess. I can be one, too.”

That’s when it starts.

*~*

The first time Percy sees her outside of the coffee shop it is 10 pm at the campus gym and he is ready to collapse after conditioning with the swim team. He is on his way to the locker room when he spots her near the cable machine looking incredibly uncomfortable as some blond asshole chats her up, leaning in very closely. He pauses and listens for a moment to make sure she doesn’t actually know the guy, because he's only ever spoken to her within the confines of the small café and has no way of knowing who this man might be to her.

“Well I have an internship on Wall Street right now so I’m ready to graduate. How old did you say you are?”

Percy nearly vomits and decides that, in order to protect her from Blond Business Bitchboy, he needs to intervene. He walks over and meets Annabeth’s eye, and she sends him an alarmed look. He moves to her free side and bumps his shoulder into hers.

“Hey, you ready to go?” he asks and watches as the blond guy narrows his eyes at him.

“We were actually in the middle of a conversation,” the guy says, and Percy raises one eyebrow.

“Oh yeah? Were you talking about how much of an asshole you have to be to hit on a girl in an empty gym at night?”

The guy’s face starts to tint red and he straightens his posture, pulling himself up to his full height. Percy hasn’t fought anyone since high school, but he does not mind making an exception here. 

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" the guy says, and Percy feels himself tense up just as Annabeth grabs his arm.

“Let’s go,” she says, leaning down to grab her water bottle. She pauses before they walk away and looks at the stranger. “You should’ve majored in being a fucking asshole. I’m sure it would’ve helped you more than your global economics degree on Wall Street. Have a nice night.”

Percy smacks his hand over his mouth to quell his laughter as the guy’s face drops. His entire head turns crimson and Annabeth drags Percy along to the locker room hallway, leaving the man standing there, fuming.

“Thank God you showed up,” she says to him outside the women’s locker room. “I was too afraid to say anything before because, well—it’s late and I’m the only woman left in the building.” 

He knits his eyebrows and nods. 

“I can go find a girl who works here or something for you,” he tells her, and she blinks at him.

“Why would I need a girl? I have you.”

He shrugs.

“I don’t know, just because I make your coffee that doesn’t mean I’m not a serial killer.”

She rolls her eyes.

“Piper is an excellent judge of character, and she has named you one of her closest friends. I trust you well enough.” She pauses, then. “Do you mind waiting for me to grab my stuff?”

“Of course. I’m gonna get my bag and I’ll walk you home if you need.”

“Just to my car if that’s alright.”

“For sure,” he says. “Meet back here in five?”

She nods and pauses.

“Don’t go looking for trouble,” she tells him, and he knits his eyebrows.

“I’m not.”

She narrows her eyes at him and he narrows them back.

“Do you think I’m gonna run back out there and start a fight?” he asks her, and she shrugs.

“You’re very tense.”

He doesn’t notice until she mentions it, but his shoulders are very tight and his hands are still clenched into fists. He rolls back his shoulders and flexes his hands, then slumps over dramatically to show her how relaxed he actually is. She just rolls her eyes and shoves him into the men’s locker room door, then heads into the women’s. Percy rushes to get his belongings so that he can make it out to the hallway before her; he doesn’t want her to wait alone with that asshole lurking around. He looks longingly at the shower as he packs his bag but decides there’s just no time, then heads out to the hall to wait for her. 

She pokes her head out of the locker room door and peeks around, relaxing when she sees Percy. He wants to laugh because she looks ridiculous, like a floating head, but he knows why she is doing it, and his heart sinks. And then he wants to beat the shit out of every man alive, himself included. 

They head out to the parking lot together and Annabeth exhales a sigh of relief once her car is in sight. Percy notices a pin on her backpack, the bi flag, and he smiles a bit. One thing they have in common aside from working out at ungodly hours of the night.

“Thank God,” she breathes as they head down the front steps. “I half-thought he might be out here waiting or something.”

Percy knits his eyebrows.

“I’m sorry,” he says, and she rolls her eyes.

“You’re not the creep who couldn’t take a hint, Percy,” she tells him. “But I appreciate the sentiment, I guess.”

“If you ever need to work out late again, you can call me,” he tells her, and she raises her eyebrows hopefully.

“Yeah?”

He nods.

“Usually training for swim doesn’t go so long,” he tells her. “We have a meet coming up, though, and Coach has been on our asses worse than ever. We can’t catch a break.”

“Thanks,” she says. “I might take you up on that once I’m ready to come back here.”

He nods again.

“You swim?” she asks, and he nods once more. “Can you speak?”

He grins and shakes his head, so she rolls her eyes as they approach a black Jeep. Of course she drives a Jeep. He tries to suppress his smile and fails horribly as she unlocks her car door.

“You need a ride?” she asks, and he shakes his head.

“I usually take the busses, so—”

“The busses? Why would you take the bus when I just offered you a ride home?”

He purses his lips.

“I don’t wanna put you out, I guess.”

She rolls her eyes again. She seems fond of doing it.

“You’re not putting me out if I literally offered. Get in, loser, we’re going to your house,” she tells him, and he grins and salutes her.

“Aye aye, Captain,” he says, and she grimaces as she shoves her bag in the backseat of the car.

Once he climbs into the passenger seat he notices the entire car smells like citrus. Lemons, specifically. God, it’s a little bit intoxicating. It’s a lot intoxicating. He’s gotta get out of here before—

“It smells like heaven in here,” he blurts out, and she laughs a bit as she starts the car.

“Thank you? It’s the Body Shop car clips, they save my smelly ass every time someone has to ride in here with me,” she says, pulling out of the parking spot. 

He grins widely.

“I have to admit I was expecting it to smell like twelve different syrups and stale coffee.”

She makes a face at him.

“Ha, ha, fuck you,” she says, and he laughs brightly. She grins. “So where do you live anyway?”

“An apartment with Jason off of Lehigh. Is it too out of the way, or—”

“It’s fine. My dorm is right by there.”

“Can I ask why you decided to live on campus instead of with Piper?” he asks, and she sighs heavily.

“I don’t know, really. I guess I thought—I didn’t want to rely on her so much, you know? I wanted to build my own connections with people I didn’t have to meet through her. I’ve always kind of…depended on her to be the social one, I guess. Especially because I’m a raging bitch and people don’t typically warm to me very quickly.”

Percy nearly chokes.

“You’re not a raging bitch,” he says, half-laughing. 

“Are you forgetting that I called you a dick and yelled at you the first time we met?”

He grins.

“That was valid. I was being a dick and jumping to conclusions.”

“Well, Piper would’ve called you a dick and then made you her best friend. She has a way with people like that. I just…call myself a dick too and hope that’s enough.”

He smiles gently.

“Well, it is enough,” he tells her, and she glances at him, smiling lightly. “Also I don’t think standing up for yourself makes you a bitch. Like, that’s just not taking shit.”

“So what qualifies bitchiness?”

“Hm,” Percy hums. “Well, I think we’d do best with an example. Take Jason, King Bitch.” Annabeth laughs and Percy grins. “Jason is a massive bitch, especially before he has breakfast. If Jason walks into the kitchen and yells at me or insults me before I can even look at him, that’s him being a bitch. But, if I’m eating all his food and leaving none for him, or insulting him first and _then_ he’s reacting, that’s self-defense.”

She grins.

“I see. So bitchiness is unfounded,” she says.

“Exactly.”

“So that means in our first meeting, _you_ were the bitch.”

He opens his mouth to deny it but then shuts it promptly. She’s right. He is the bitch.

“Oh, God,” he says. “Everything I know has been flipped on its head.”

She grins.

“Maybe it’s not Jason who’s King Bitch, after all.”

He shakes his head.

“No, Jason is King Bitch, no one is worse than him.”

“Well, Jason’s never been a bitch to _me_.”

Percy scoffs.

“And? Just because you’ve never borne witness to his bitchery doesn’t mean he does not partake regularly.”

She laughs wildly, then.

“Bitchery?” she laughs. “What the fuck?”

He chuckles, scratching at his nose.

“I forgot the noun for being a bitch.”

“Bitchiness.”

He scrunches up his nose.

“I prefer bitchery.”

She smiles widely.

“To each their own, I suppose,” she says, and he grimaces.

“You sound like a global economics major,” he remarks, and she gasps and whacks at his arm blindly as she makes a left turn.

“Fuck off, it's way too soon,” she laughs. “I cannot be associated with that particular brand of asshole.”

“What brand of asshole do you prefer?”

“The humble and beautiful and always right kind.”

He grins widely.

“What a combination.”

“Mmhmm,” she hums, grabbing her squeeze bottle from the cupholder between them. “And you?”

“The cripplingly anxious and asexual kind.”

She spits out her water and nearly runs a red light, slamming on her brakes just in time. They stare at each other, eyes wide in shock, and then burst out into hysterical laughter. Percy thinks they are reacting so strongly because she’s nearly just killed them, but he cannot stop himself now that he’s started. The light turns green and Annabeth is still rendered useless in her fit, but once the cars behind them start laying on their horns she manages to get the car moving again.

“Holy shit,” she sighs, wiping at her face. “You’re out of control.”

“ _Me_? You almost got us killed!”

“ _You_ almost got us killed! You can’t say shit like that when I’m behind the wheel.”

“Well sorry I’m so charming and hilarious but I refuse to take responsibility for your carelessness.”

She rolls her eyes.

“Fuck off, King Bitch.”

“I will roll out of this moving car right now.”

She unlocks the doors.

“Go for it.”

He purses his lips and she smiles triumphantly and he realizes that they have fallen into their back and forth so easily that it feels as if they’ve been doing it their entire lives.

“That’s what I thought,” she says smugly, and he rolls his eyes. She exhales heavily through her nose. “So you’re ace?” He nods. “Aro, too, or…?”

“Biromantic,” he says. “Even though it always feels weird to say. I just…yeah, I would like to fall in love, I just don’t particularly care with who.”

“I’m bi, too,” she tells him. “Well—bisexual.”

“Yeah, I figured.” She sends him a questioning look. “The pin on your backpack.”

“Ah,” she says. “Thought maybe Piper told you about how we dated.”

“Oh she definitely did,” he says, and she laughs. “But I wouldn’t have assumed just based on that.”

“Well it’s good to know you don’t jump to conclusions about _everything_ ,” she teases, turning onto his street, and he rolls his eyes.

“Will I never live it down?”

“Certainly not.”

He sighs dramatically.

“Curse my trauma reflex,” he says, throwing his hand across his forehead, and she laughs a bit.

“I think it’s time for you to take a trip to the sea, Mrs. Bennet, and recover your wits.”

“How dare you mention my wits, it’s entirely inappropriate.”

“Please do not make a wits/bits joke after I was just sexually harassed at the campus gym by the worst human being alive.”

“Oh God, I’m so sorry, honestly, I’m so dumb—”

But she is laughing in his face and he has the sudden urge to throw her bottle at her head.

“Fuck you. Also, I live—here, here, it’s here!”

She slams on the brakes, the seatbelt chokes him as he is thrown forward, and they stare at each other in shock for the second time that night.

“You waited until the _last fucking second_ —”

“You have almost killed me _twice_ tonight—”

“You’re so insufferable I cannot _stand_ you—”

“How did you even get your damn license—”

“GET OUT OF MY CAR—”

“WITH PLEASURE—”

“But, like, see you tomorrow for that coffee, right?” she says as he climbs out of the passenger seat and shoulders his bag.

He rolls his eyes.

“Obviously. Can’t wait to watch you regret every decision you’ve ever made the second you have whatever fucked up concoction your twisted system will present you with.”

“Well, that’s just plain rude.”

“They don’t call me King Bitch for nothing, babe.”

~

“Percy, ugh—oh God, this is terrible,” Annabeth coughs two Saturdays later. “Not even you could make this taste good.”

He scrunches up his nose. 

“What was it again?” he asks, working on two orders simultaneously as she leans against the counter.

“Pineapple ginger, cinnamon dolce, chestnut praline, raspberry, blueberry, and white chocolate mocha,” she says, grimacing.

He gags and she shakes her head and throws the entire cup in the trash.

“I shouldn’t have done this,” she says. “Usually I make the ones that I think will be disgusting at home so I won’t waste so much but I was so tired and I just—oh God, I read out the wrong one. Can I please have a cup of water?”

Percy nods and calls out the order he’s just completed, then fills up a cup of water for her.

“Bless you,” she says, and he grins as she takes a large sip and starts swishing the liquid around in her mouth.

“I can’t believe you really do this ten times a day,” he says as he gets started on his next order. “Don’t you get annoyed or frustrated or just, like—wanna give up?”

“Of course I do,” she says. “But I’m far too stubborn for my own good; I think it’ll probably kill me one day, actually.”

“Cause of death: refusal to waver.”

“I’d rather die stubborn than weak-willed,” she says, and he raises his eyebrows.

“Valid point, Chase.”

“I make plenty. It’s why I’m right all the time.”

He grins and rolls his eyes and she purses her lips as she leans on the counter.

“Percy,” she sings, and he shakes his head.

“No.”

“Percyyyyyyy.”

“No. No. I’m not doing it. You’ve made your choices—sit with them. I have other customers.” He pauses to look at the name on the cup. “Anim!”

“Percy,” Annabeth says, pouting, and he wants to shove a paper bag over her head so he won’t have to look at how damn cute she is. 

Because she is, objectively, aesthetically, quite cute.

“Get out of my sight.”

“Percy, I really do appreciate everything you’ve ever—”

“Just—chocolate chip or lemon poppy?”

“Ooh, let’s switch it up with a blueberry, I think.”

“How adventurous.”

She pouts at him, which he only (unfortunately) sees because he is calling out someone else’s name.

“You can’t say I’m not adventurous. I drink 10 coffees a day in the spirit of adventure.”

“I think it’s more like the spirit of permutations and combinations, no?”

“Combinations, you heathen,” she says, snatching the blueberry muffin he presents to her out of his hand. “Learn basic math.”

“Get a fucking life.”

“Eat my ass.”

“I’d quite literally rather drink 11 cups of coffee a day.”

“That’s incredibly rude, I’ve been told my ass changes lives.”

“Talk to me when I stop being asexual.”

“You can be asexual and appreciate my ass.”

He knows. He is quite painfully aware of that fact as well.

“I’d rather appreciate your calculator brain. 3,492 times 846,” he deflects

“2,954,232,” she says not even three seconds later, and he shakes his head.

“I will take your word for it—Kyle!”

“Oof, what’d he get?”

“Large Americano with an extra shot.”

“Oh, Kyle.”

“Yeah?” the bulky brunet who approaches to collect his drink says.

“Doing okay, bud?” Annabeth asks him, and Percy grins widely as Kyle knits his eyebrows.

“Have a 20-page research paper due in 12 hours,” he admits, utterly distraught. “Please tell me you put antifreeze in here.”

Percy sighs as if he’s disappointed.

“Tragically it’s not FDA-approved,” he says. “But I can offer you free baked goods until you get it done.”

Some of the life returns to the boy’s eyes as he looks at Percy hopefully.

“You’re really friggin' nice,” he says. “I’m sorry I didn’t leave you a tip even though I had two dollars. I just…really wanted Sour Patch Kids later.”

Percy hands over a scone and waves his free hand dismissively.

“You deserve those Sour Patch Kids, man. You’ll deserve them even more in 12 hours.”

Kyle quite literally salutes Percy and Annabeth smiles so widely Percy thinks her cheeks might split in half. It doesn’t help that they’re stuffed to the brim with blueberry muffin.

“That was very generous of you,” she mumbles through her mouthful.

He grimaces despite the flip his heart does in his chest.

“You have blueberry seeds in your teeth,” he tells her.

She opens her mouth and sticks out her tongue to show him all the half-chewed food and says,  “aaaaaahhhhh” like the child she is, and he resolves to never speak to her again.

“I like your sweater,” he says two seconds later, because he is nothing if not weak in the face of adorably disgusting people. “Brings out your eyes.”

“I like your jeans. Bring out your ass.”

He is never speaking to her again.

~

“Annabeeeeeeth,” Percy whines, nearly falling out of his seat and throwing his entire upper body onto her chair. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Percy, we’ve been studying for a total of 15 minutes,” she huffs. “And fuck off.”

She shoves his face off of her arm and he pouts and rests his chin on her shoulder.

“You’re mean.”

“You’re a distraction. Quit distracting me.”

“Quit being so distractible.”

“I will bury you.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

She glares at him so that they are nose-to-nose, and he smiles with no teeth.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he says, and she quite literally head-butts him.

“Ugh, what the fuck?” he groans, sitting back into his seat and rubbing his forehead.

“You deserved it,” she says simply, turning back to her laptop.

“Fine. Screw this. I’m going bowling with Hazel and Leo.”

She looks as if he’s just told her he’s murdered her entire family.

“Excuse me?” she says. “That’s so fucking rude. You came here to study with me, not to abandon me!”

“I’m not abandoning you, Piper and Jason are here.”

They both look across the table to bear witness to Piper and Jason’s impromptu make-out session and then look back at each other with equally horrified grimaces on their faces. Percy grabs a highlighter and chucks it at the couple and Piper finally removes her face from her boyfriend’s and glares at them.

“What?” she demands, annoyed.

“You know, when you book a study room, you’re meant to, I don’t know, _study_ ,” Annabeth says, and Percy bites the inside of his cheek.

“Excellent point, logical, straight-forward,” he mutters to her, and she nods, fired up.

“Yeah,” she says. “And you.” She whirls on him and he shrinks back into his seat. “You will not be leaving me to go bowling in the middle of midterm season, you wretched little bitch. We are going to study or I am never speaking to any of you again.”

…

“Eat shit, Jackson!” Annabeth shouts as she bowls her second strike in a row, then high-fives Hazel so hard Percy cannot imagine her hands don’t hurt.

“Beginner’s luck, Chase,” he shoots back, and she scoffs and crosses her arms over her chest.

“I’ll have you know I was part of a bowling league in high school.”

He gapes at her, frozen with his soda in his hand.

“You _what_?” he breathes, a massive smile breaking out onto his face. “Were you a traveling team or intramural?”

She scowls at him.

“Fuck you. I’m incredible and well-rounded and you are an ugly jock.”

He laughs hard, then, clutching his stomach.

“Did you have matching bowling shirts? Specialized balls?” he laughs.

She raises one eyebrow and he hears what he’s said, and they both burst into laughter simultaneously.

“They were specialized alright,” she says, and he absolutely loses it.

“That’s actually pretty cool,” he says once he’s calmed down. “I didn’t know schools even did that.”

She purses her lips and tugs on the end of her ponytail.

“They don’t,” she says, and he stares at her.

“You—”

“Yes.”

“So—”

“Yes.”

“How are Doris and Bob, anyhow?”

“Fuck you,” she laughs, shoving his shoulder. “They weren’t all elderly.”

“I would hope not. That would be ageist.”

She rolls her eyes and he grins.

“What made you want to join a local bowling league?”

She sighs heavily and finally takes the seat beside him, obviously resigned to the fact that she will not be escaping this conversation. For a moment they watch Leo take his turn, squatting with his legs wide and rolling the ball with both hands. Annabeth winces as it rolls far too slowly to knock down any pins and turns to Percy.

“When I was younger I lived in this town that was like, Whitesville, USA. Everyone was rich and snobby and racist and the entire place was always pristine. Except for the bowling alley, and it was smack in the middle of town. It was literally the most disgusting, run-down shithole ever. The only people that ever went there were people from other towns who didn’t have places to bowl and stoners. My step-mom hated it especially.” She pauses and grins. “So naturally I made sure to go every day.” Percy smiles and Annabeth sighs contentedly. “I would go after school and just play the claw machine game and get free refills on sodas and stuff. And it ended up actually being a really good outlet—I hated being at home, and I had some other place to go. I even made friends with the workers.”

Percy grins.

“How old were you?”

“Well, I started going when I was nine. Stopped when I was 13.” She shrugs. “They were always really nice to me, and I loved it there. It stopped being about spiting my step-mom and became a safe space, you know?” Percy nods. “Anyway, my step-mom thought I was doing it just to piss her off, and she hated the place, and she was on town council. So she moved to have it demolished.”

Percy’s face drops as a wave of anger rolls over him, but he tries to keep his expression neutral for her sake. She glances at him and snorts.

“It’s okay, Percy, it’s been almost seven years.”

“That’s so fucked up,” he says, chewing on the reusable straw Grover sent him in the mail.

He regrets the fact that it’s silicon, because he wants to rip through it with his teeth.

“Yeah, well. She won, they knocked it down, and I…didn’t take it well.” She winces. “Got sent to boarding school for my reaction.”

He raises his eyebrows, intrigued.

“What’d you do, smash the fine china?” he says, and she purses her lips. He smiles widely. “Holy shit. You smashed the fine china.”

“Only the ones she loved. The ones she put on display because nobody could ever eat from them, that’s how much she loved them.”

“She had it coming.”

Annabeth winces.

“I don’t think she did. I mean, I was 13 and full of rage and—just because she hurt me doesn’t mean I had the right to hurt her back, you know? I actually feel really guilty about it.”

“Plates can be replaced. Childhood sanctuaries cannot.”

“Either way. It was wrong.” She sighs heavily. “What was your initial question again?”

“Why’d you join a town bowling league at the ripe old age of 14?”

She smiles.

“Oh, yeah. Well, when I got sent away I met Piper, and she would always go into town because her dad sent a driver just for her.”

Percy rolls his eyes and smiles fondly at his best friend as she takes her turn, grateful that she did not turn out to be the spoiled brat she truly could have for the way she was raised.

“One day when we went into town I saw a bowling alley. Another shit-hole. And I got really emotional and I went inside to smell the disgusting bowling alley smell. But there was this group of people in there with matching shirts—” Percy laughs and Annabeth elbows him, “—and they were having so much _fun_. And I just wanted to be a part of it. So I made friends with Edna and the rest was history.”

Percy grins widely and Annabeth rolls her eyes at him, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Say what you have to say,” she sighs.

“Edna sounds lovely. Have you kept in touch?”

“Edna sends me cookies and care packages once a month, thank you very much.”

“Can I be friends with Edna?”

“Never, she’d hate you.”

He pouts.

“I happen to think I’m incredibly lovable,” Percy says.

“I happen to think people who think they’re lovable are actually insufferable.”

“You thought wrong, bitch. I am so endearing.”

“I’d rather befriend a feral dog.”

“You’re already friends with Jason.”

She laughs and elbows him and then it is his turn to bowl and he is not at all prepared to once again make a fool of himself.

“Go get ’em, Fish Boy,” Annabeth says as he stands to take his turn, and he grimaces at her.

“Fish Boy?”

“Do you prefer Pool Boy? Chlorine Head? Baby Beluga?”

“I’d like to write Edna and let her know she is friends with a fuckin' monster.”

“Edna taught me everything I know.”

“Can you stop flirting and take your damn turn already?” Leo calls out, and Percy glares at him.

“I do not flirt,” Percy says, grabbing the random bowling ball he has decided belongs to him. “I simply bat my eyelashes and everyone within a 10-mile radius falls in love with me.”

“Bat your eyelashes at the pins, maybe you’ll finally hit one,” Piper says, and Percy flips her off, then takes his place in front of the lane.

He takes a deep breath, adjusts his grip, and drops his arm.

The ball rolls backward and Annabeth laughs until tears stream down her freckled cheeks. He’ll take that over a strike any day.

~

“Um, what’s the capital of…Lithuania?” Hazel asks.

Her head is hanging off the recliner’s plush arm as she balances a pen on her nose, and Jason rolls over onto his back on the floor in front of her.

“Vilnius?” he answers, uncertain. “But during the interwar period, it had a temporary capital in Kaunas.”

“Yup,” Hazel mutters, not bothering to check the notebook in her lap. “What’s the capital of your mom?”

“Merlot, 1943,” he responds drily, and Percy grins widely from where he hangs upside down on his couch.

“What’s the capital of I’m gonna fail all my midterms?” Percy says.

“ADHD City,” Hazel responds without hesitation. “Although during the interwar period, its temporary capital was Dyslexia Village.”

Percy snickers and Jason flips Hazel off blindly, his eyes shut beneath his glasses.

“I am so fucking tired,” Jason says. “It must be like 4 a.m. by now.”

“It’s 9:30,” Hazel informs him.

He groans loudly and rolls over onto his belly, letting his head fall face-first into the carpet.

“Kill me,” he mumbles into the floor, and Percy sighs heavily.

“When’s Annabeth getting here?” he complains, and his friends send him pointed looks. “And Piper,” he amends.

Hazel snorts as she picks at the ends of her box braids.

“Yeah, okay, you’re waiting for Piper,” she says.

“Just tell Annabeth you’re in love with her and move the fuck on, already,” Jason says.

Percy throws his ruler at Jason’s head and clips his ear.

“I am not _in_ _love_ with her, for the ten thousandth time,” Percy denies.

“You are,” Hazel informs him. “Just admit it, Perce.”

“Admit what?” Piper says, stepping through the door using the spare key Jason gave her.

Percy sits up so quickly he smacks his head on the coffee table, and he groans as he sits up properly and the blood rushes back down from his head to the rest of his body. 

“That I’m the hottest one here,” he says and frowns when Annabeth snorts as she takes off her coat. “Is something amusing?”

“Yes, actually,” she tells him, dragging her backpack over to the couch where he sits.

She plops down next to him and shoves him over—on _his own couch_ —then stretches herself across the length of it, her feet in his lap.

“Okay, am I a footrest or a sentient being?” he says.

“Sentient footrest,” she shoots back. 

He squeezes her toe and she kicks at him, so he relents. He grins widely at the sight of her socks.

“Belugas,” he says. “They’re so cute.”

“She got them for you,” Piper chimes in from her spot clinging to Jason’s back, and Percy looks between the two girls in surprise.

Annabeth’s cheeks have turned an incriminating shade of red.

“I did not,” she says. “They’re mine.”

“Oh, right,” Piper sighs. “You got them because they _reminded_ you of him.”

Percy grins widely.

“Is that so?” he says to her.

“Shut up, all of you, I have to study.”

Annabeth’s demand is undercut by the fact that she shuts her eyes and rests her head on the pillow behind her as she says it. 

“Is that the one that stuck, then? Baby Beluga?” Percy asks in an undertone, and Annabeth grins, her eyes still shut.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

~

“Ugh, could you detach your face from your girlfriend’s for five seconds, please?” Percy complains, shoving into Reyna purposefully as he sets down her drink. “You two are absolutely vile. This has to be a health-code violation.”

“I’m on the other side of the counter, dipshit,” Reyna tells him. “And I’m off the clock.”

“And yet we’re still here, listening to the dipshit complain,” Clarisse says. “Why is that?”

Reyna grins evilly.

“Oh, you’re gonna wanna watch this,” she tells her girlfriend, interlocking their fingers across the small table. “It is a sight to be seen.”

Percy sighs heavily, his nostrils flaring a bit, and moves back behind the counter.

“There’s nothing to see,” Percy says, and Reyna rolls her eyes as Jason lets out a “ha!”

The bell over the door chimes and Percy feels his entire body tense up with anticipation, but it’s only some hungover freshman, and he deflates.

“Saw that?” Reyna mutters to Clarisse.

“Holy shit, is he expecting the Queen of England?” her girlfriend responds.

“I don’t respect imperialists,” he calls out, working on the kid’s drink.

“Yet you’re willing to fall in love with a colonizer,” Reyna shoots back.

He sends a pointed look her way, his eyes moving from Clarisse to his boss, and she rolls her eyes.

“Mind your business, Coffee Boy,” she says, and he sighs heavily.

“Cheer up, Perce,” Jason says, clapping him on the shoulder. “She’ll be here soon.”

Percy grimaces and jerks his shoulder so Jason’s hand will drop. He hands the drink to the kid and the boy quite literally trembles before he takes his first sip and visibly relaxes.

“You’re all acting like we’re not already friends,” Percy says. “She’s one of us. Please leave me alone.”

“But you put on such an entertaining show,” Hazel says, coming out from the kitchen to fill up the display case. 

“Did you make cranberry orange today?” Percy asks, trying to guess the flavor of the muffins in Hazel’s hands by sniffing deeply. “It smells citrusy.”

“Tried for a new recipe,” she says. “Strawberry lemonade.”

Percy’s stomach grumbles. He doesn’t have a break for another hour, but with Hazel on shift as manager, he might be able to get away with it. He tries to sneak a muffin while she is crouched in front of the glass, but she swats at his hand without even looking.

“Don’t even think about it,” she warns. 

He pouts.

“My stomach is eating itself,” he complains. “Please, I’m so hungry.”

“Go eat the ugly ones in the kitchen, then,” Hazel says. “Scram, Coffee Boy.”

He smacks a kiss onto her head and runs back into the kitchen to find an entire tray of rejects which he promptly starts devouring. He is shoving his third muffin into his mouth, his cheeks bursting with the effort of keeping everything inside, when he steps out and finds Annabeth talking and laughing with Jason.

She is not alone.

Standing beside her is a very tall, tan boy with curly blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He has an easy smile and an even easier way of carrying himself, as if he hasn’t a care in the world.

And his arm is wrapped around Annabeth’s shoulders.

When she catches sight of Percy and his chipmunk cheeks, courtesy of Muffin #3, Annabeth grins widely. Hazel gives his arm a supportive squeeze and heads into the kitchen.

“The man of the hour,” Annabeth says, half-laughing. “Get hungry back there?”

He forces himself to swallow the terribly dry, chewed up, _fucking delicious_ wad of food in his mouth, and nearly chokes.

“Incredible already,” Percy hears Clarisse say, but he ignores her.

“I’m always hungry,” he informs Annabeth, coughing a bit. “What’ll it be today? Pistachio, asshole, garbage and dirt?”

She gives him a dry look.

“Ha, ha. It’s a great one, today, actually. I got bored of the sixes and I’m doing all eighteen combinations in one.”

Jason and Percy gape at her, and the boy with his arm around her shoulders laughs brightly. Of course he has dimples. Percy fuckin' hates him. 

“You’re out of your mind, Beth,” the guy says, his voice smooth and light. 

She rolls her eyes, grinning.

“I have an insane childhood goal to accomplish, here, and I would like your unwavering support during this trying time,” she tells him.

“Allow me to pay for your ten thousand dollar monstrosity,” the boy says, taking his arm off her shoulders and reaching into his back pocket for his wallet.

Percy knits his eyebrows.

“It’s on the house,” he says suddenly, ignoring the pointed look Reyna sends his way, the massive smile Jason is quite obviously fighting to hold back.

The boy’s eyebrows raise in surprise.

“Thanks, man,” he says, and Annabeth narrows her eyes at Percy.

“Sus,” she says, and he grimaces.

“Think of it as an apology for jumping to conclusions,” he tells her, and she grins.

“In that case.” 

He gets to work on the drink and does his best not to think about Long, Tan, and Handsome with his arm around Annabeth’s shoulders. She didn’t even introduce him, which Percy thinks is rather odd, but then again he had no idea this boy even existed. So obviously it is none of his business.

Once he’s done making the drink he presents it to Annabeth in a flourish and she rolls her eyes, grinning, then takes it from him. She takes a deep breath, looking at everyone around her in turn.

“Bottoms up, I guess,” she says and takes a large sip. 

Percy expects her to make a face, shudder, completely regret her decision. What actually happens is _so_ much better _._

She turns to face the boy she came in with and spits the drink out all over the front of his jacket. His jaw drops as he wipes at his face and Annabeth coughs, pounding on her chest.

“What the _fuck_ , man?” the boy exclaims.

Annabeth starts laughing wildly.

“I’m so sorry,” she laughs. “Will, really—”

She starts laughing harder and Percy bites the inside of his cheek hard so as not to laugh along with her. The boy—Will, Percy supposes—goes from shocked to amused, and he starts laughing as well, shaking his head. He looks at Percy.

“Could I get some napkins, please?”

Percy nods and hands him a bunch and it seems as though the person waiting in line behind Annabeth and Will has finally lost their patience because they huff and say _excuse me_ in a passive-aggressive undertone and elbow their way in. Annabeth moves over for the person and her jaw drops in shock as she looks at him, then meets Percy’s eye. No fucking way.

“Hi, how are y—” Jason tries to say.

“I’ll have a large cold brew with two extra shots,” the douchebag says, already trying to shove his card into the machine reader.

There’s a metaphor in there, Percy is certain. Right now all he wants to do is ruin this asshole’s drink on purpose. Maybe trip and fall and spill it on the guy when he’s handing him his order.

But he won’t.

He meets Annabeth’s eyes and raises one eyebrow, and she shakes her head, covering her mouth. 

Alright, he won’t.

He gets to work on the order and calls the guy’s name— _Luke, ugh_ —and when they meet eyes, Percy stands a little straighter. Luke looks him over as if he’s trying to place where he’s seen him, and when the realization dawns on his face he sets his jaw and grabs his drink, then stalks out of the cafe. Good fuckin’ riddance.

“Okay?” he asks Annabeth, and she nods, presses herself into Will’s side.

He tries to ignore the way it stings as she does.

“He’s such a douchebag,” she says, and Percy nods.

“Wait, you know that asshole?” Jason asks, looking at the door he just walked out of.

“Long story,” Percy and Annabeth respond in unison, and he smiles a bit.

“I got my revenge,” Percy tells her, and her eyes widen.

“What did you do?”

He purses his lips.

“Gave him decaf instead of regular,” Percy mutters, and she laughs hard.

“You dork,” she says. 

“That’s actually kind of evil,” Will says, grinning, and Percy startles, forgetting his presence for a second.

Annabeth seems to realize she never introduced them.

“Oh my God, I’m so dumb. Percy, this is Will. Will, this is my friend Percy,” she says.

Percy smiles a bit and Will grins widely.

“ _You’re_ Percy,” he says, and Percy nods.

He hopes his discomfort is not as obvious as it feels.

“That’s me.”

“Will and I went to the same camp when we were younger,” Annabeth says. “And then I ran into him outside Dif EQs and we reconnected. Isn’t that wild?”

“Oof,” he hears Clarisse mutter.

“Wild,” Percy agrees, swallowing. 

It feels like there’s a hard lump in his throat. He glances at the clock and turns to the kitchen, where Hazel retreated earlier.

“Taking my 15, Hazy,” he tells her, and she raises her eyebrows.

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

She shrugs and he turns back to the display case as Will, Jason, and Annabeth all talk. Percy grabs a muffin from the top shelf to hand to Annabeth.

“Strawberry lemonade today,” he tells her. “Really good.”

He takes off his apron and grabs his jacket from the hook in the kitchen, and when he returns Annabeth knits her eyebrows.

“Are you leaving?” she asks.

“Have to go to the bank,” he tells her. “Rent’s due tomorrow.”

“Oh, shit, I forgot,” Jason says. “Remind me when we get off later to stop at the ATM?”

Percy nods and shrugs on his coat. He doesn't mention that he went to the bank this morning on his way to work.

“Will you still be here in 15 minutes?” Percy asks, looking between Annabeth and Will.

She deflates a bit.

“I have to go to office hours,” she says. “But we're still studying tomorrow, right?”

“’Course,” Percy tells her. He glances at Will and forces himself to smile a bit. “Nice to meet you, Will.”

“You, too, Percy,” he says back cheerily. “Annabeth told me so much about you, it’s nice to put a face to the name—ow, jeez.”

Annabeth looks at Percy innocently, as if she hadn’t just jabbed the boy beside her in the ribs, and he knits his eyebrows in confusion, but smiles a bit. Reyna sends him a sympathetic look as he goes and he thinks that it is quite possibly the worst part of all this.

But then he remembers the arm wrapped around her shoulders and knows for certain it is not.

Percy is not in love with Annabeth Chase. He is not. He just wishes it was his arm wrapped around her, his side she would press into for comfort, his stupid history with her making for the cute reconnection story. 

Percy Jackson is not in love. He just has heartburn from all those fuckin’ muffins he ate. 

~

“You know for a fact that you’re wrong,” Annabeth says, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re just too stubborn to admit it.”

“ _Me_? You’re the one defending that—that—fuckin' outrage. A pathetic excuse for sustenance,” Jason responds.

“Red Vines are not made for _sustenance_. They’re made for cavities and toothaches.”

“They taste like vomit and imitation strawberry flavor.”

“Twizzlers taste like _wax_.”

“I feel so sorry for you right now.”

“Can you both shut the hell up and watch the movie?” Piper snaps. “I don’t care about your stupid snack debate.”

“Twizzlers are better,” Percy says absently, then grabs three from the bag on the coffee table, and Jason pumps his fist victoriously.

“Judas,” Annabeth grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest.

He shrugs and she digs her elbow into his ribs, so he wraps his arms around her to pin hers to her sides.

“Percy,” she laughs, squirming. “Let me go.”

“Quit throwing elbows and I will.”

“Quit being repulsive and I won’t have to.”

“Mm, Twizzlers,” he hums around the one hanging out of his mouth, and she grunts and once again attempts to escape his grasp.

“Can you two stop being disgusting and _shut up_?” Leo says from the floor in front of the couch. “Honestly, it’s enough to make a man sick.”

“I’m already sick,” Hazel adds from her spot at the opposite end of the couch.

Annabeth gives up and settles against Percy’s chest as he raises his hand to flip Hazel off.

“You’re lucky you’re warm,” Annabeth mutters and pulls his hand down so that his arm is around her once more. 

He hopes against hope that she cannot feel his heart pounding in his chest.

“Or what?” 

“I’d head-butt you again.”

He laughs and Piper shushes them and in the dark with her hair tickling his nose, fresh with the scent of lemons, he can imagine she is Will-less and he has the courage to say what’s on his mind. 

“How’s Will?” Percy asks quietly, because he hates himself, and she shrugs.

“Good, I guess. He’s been super busy lately.”

“He’s pre-med, right?”

She sighs.

“Yeah. I could never do it. I hate science.”

“You’re going to be an architect.”

“I hate _living_ science. Physics fuckin’ rules.”

“Nerd.”

“Bitch.”

Leo jabs Percy’s foot and he kicks at Leo’s hip, then sighs heavily through his nose and rests his chin on top of Annabeth’s head. She relaxes in his arms even further and puts her hands over his.

“Wanna get some air?” she mutters quietly, and he is nodding before she even finishes her sentence.

“Yeah, for sure.”

They make their way out and their friends cheer and they both give the group the finger over their heads as they move toward’s Percy’s room, shrugging on their coats. Once they’re out on the fire escape Percy sighs and leans back against the brick wall of the building, and Annabeth takes her place next to him. He does his best not to look at her, to focus on the view of the small town lit up in front of them, but it doesn’t even hold a candle to her beauty. So he turns his head and smiles, and she does the same. 

“Hey,” he says, his breath coming out in a puff of cold white air.

“Hey,” she responds, her smile broadening. “Fancy meeting you here.”

He rolls his eyes and she scrunches up her nose and he wishes he was dead.

“So,” she begins, turning back to face the view ahead of them. 

“So,” he says, following her lead.

“Thanks for being so cool with Will,” she says, and he swallows. “He gets kinda nervous around new people even though he’s really socially competent. It’s just, like, a learning curve for him, I guess.”

Percy nods, biting the inside of his cheek.

“Yeah of course. I mean, what’d you expect?”

Out of the corner of his eye he sees her turn to him, smiling softly, but he forces his gaze straight ahead.

“Nothing less,” she says gently. “You’re really good at making people feel comfortable and safe.”

“Thanks.”

They’re quiet for a few moments.

“So, um, how’s it—how’s it going with you guys?” Percy asks, picking at the leg of his sweats.

He glances at her to find that she’s knitting her eyebrows in confusion.

“Good? We’ve been friends forever so I mean—it’s nothing new,” she says.

“You dated before, too?”

She stares at him, her head tilted, and he stares back. 

“What?” she asks. “What are you talking about?”

He feels his cheeks heat up, and he clears his throat.

“I mean—you and Will. You’re—dating, aren’t you?”

Annabeth laughs at that, shaking her head.

“Percy, what? I am not dating Will,” she laughs. “He’s openly gay, for one thing.”

Percy gapes at her.

“ _What_?”

“Did you really think Will and I were a thing?”

Percy’s face feels too hot for comfort, and Annabeth laughs more.

“Oh my God, oh my God, wait! That’s why you said you didn’t want to crash our study date when I asked if you wanted to come last week? Because—”

He scrunches up his face and buries it in his hands, and she dissolves into a fit of giggles.

“You’re so fucking dumb,” she laughs. “I would’ve introduced him as _the boy I’m dating_ or _my boyfriend_. Not Will from Camp, you absolute fool.”

He groans into his hands and she laughs some more and tries to pull them away from his face.

“Would you stop?” she laughs. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It is,” he mumbles into his hands. “I’m so stupid.”

“You are not stupid.”

“I am, I’m stupid. I was so—God, I can’t believe this.”

“Percy, please look at me.”

He peeks at her from between his fingers and she smiles softly.

“I am not dating Will,” she says. “I’m not dating anyone. I am very much single.”

He purses his lips and allows her to tug his hands away from his face completely.

“Is that so?” he says, and she nods.

“It is.”

“And would you…be willing to not be single? Ever?”

She looks as though she’s struggling quite hard to suppress a smile.

“Ever? Sure.” She pauses and purses her lips, looks down at their hands. “But, um, right now…I think I’m doing my best to focus on school. Right now.”

Well, it’s not as if he’s in any rush.

“Interesting,” he says, then sits back against the wall.

“Is it?”

“Mmhmm.”

She looks at him for a few moments, then knits her eyebrows and sits back against the wall next to him. They share the quiet together, an immense weight now lifted off of Percy’s shoulders. He knows, rationally, what his next step should be. But she is focusing on school, and he is respecting that. Until she has time to focus on multiple things at once.

“Should we go back inside?” he eventually asks, and she sighs heavily.

“I suppose.”

“Lead the way, Chase.”

“Okay.”

She does not move, and he knits his eyebrows in concern.

“Are you—”

“Right now isn’t…forever,” she says suddenly, staring at a point somewhere near his ear. “I mean, there’s an eventually in there somewhere.”

He smiles widely, biting the inside of his cheek. Her eyes snap back to his, and he can tell she is quite nervous as she clears her throat.

“Not that—I mean, I wouldn’t expect you—anyone—whoever—to wait or—”

“I’ve been told I’m incredibly patient,” he says, and she looks as though she’s debating whether or not she should smile.

“Would you agree with that sentiment?” she asks carefully.

“Oh, absolutely. I once waited in line at Epcot for three hours, so.”

She laughs and shoves him over, but he grabs onto her hand and tugs her forward into a hug. She sighs contentedly, wrapping her arms around him, and he buries his nose in her hair.

“How do you always smell so good?” he mutters, squeezing her a bit tighter, and she laughs a bit.

“I take pride in my hygiene, thank you very much.”

“As do I. I once waited two whole days for my shampoo to come in the mail—”

“Fuck off,” she laughs.

“And then another _week_ for the exchange because I’d bought the wrong one—”

“Oh my god.”

“But I just think some things are worth waiting for, you know?”

“How do you know what’s worth it?” she asks, so quietly he wouldn’t have been able to hear her if her lips weren’t at his ear.

He sighs gently through his nose.

“I think sometimes you just know.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

He grins widely and pulls back from her a bit to meet her eyes.

“Don’t you know? I’m never wrong.”

~

“Okay, well…fuck,” Percy winces as he pulls the tray of charred cookies out of his oven and drops it onto the counter. “Let’s see what went wrong here.”

Annabeth buries her face in her hands and he leans down to observe the oven. He purses his lips.

“Okay, so, you were super close. You just set it to broil instead of bake,” he tells her.

She throws her head back and groans.

“I’m hopeless, Percy, _hopeless_ ,” she complains. “Send me away, expel me from your home. I’m a disgrace.”

“You’re not a disgrace,” he tells her. “You grew up rich then you got sent to boarding school and you never learned to cook or bake for yourself. No biggie.”

She pouts as she lifts her head to look at him and he is suddenly overwhelmed by the thought that he very much wants to kiss her. He hasn’t felt that way in a very long time, and he’s certainly never felt it so strongly. And here he is.

Annabeth knits her eyebrows at him as a goofy smile overcomes his face, and he bites the inside of his cheek to try to quell it.

“What? Are you laughing at me?” she asks.

“No,” he says, half-laughing. “No, I’m just—surprised, I guess. Happy.”

“Happy that I’m a failure?”

He rolls his eyes.

“Not everything is about you.”

(This is very much about her.)

She narrows her eyes at him and he grins and grabs her hands, kisses her knuckles. She seems surprised by the gesture and her cheeks tint pink. He holds their hands between them and grins widely.

“Now that you have been blessed by the magic of my kiss—” she groans and shoves him away from her, “—let’s start from the beginning. The basics, if you will.”

“Do the basics require an oven?”

“Unfortunately for you, they do.”

She grimaces and he holds onto her shoulders and makes her look him in the eyes.

“You will be fine,” he tells her. “It’s easy as pie.”

“You’re so rubbing it in my face that I can’t even make a pie right now.”

He laughs and releases her.

“Shut up. Focus up. Buck up. Etcetera.”

She scrunches up her nose distastefully and he guides her back to the oven, hands on her shoulders as he stands behind her.

“This oven is an absolute nightmare,” he tells her. “Even I had trouble figuring it out at first. Really, though, it’s simple. You have bake, which is _always_ the option you should go for when trying to cook something through. There’s broil, which is only to be used in short bursts to make things nice and crisp and brown. That clean button—I don’t know what the fuck it means or how it works, we stay away from that one.”

She nods diligently.

“Why are there two different timers? What is the difference between bake time and timer? Are they not both—TIMERS?” she exclaims, frustration cutting up her words. “It’s enough to drive a person crazy, Percy! I’m losing it!”

He bites back his smile.

“Bake time means that at the end when the timer goes off, the oven shuts off too. The timer one is just to let you know the thing is done but it’s up to you to decide if you wanna turn the oven off.”

“Hmph.”

She crosses her arms over her chest.

“Okay. How long do cookies take?” she asks.

“These cookies take 15 minutes on 350.”

She nods once and steps up to the counter, then dumps her atrocities in the trash. She whips out a new sheet of parchment paper, forms little balls of dough, then places the cookies in the oven and sets it to 350 on _bake_ , thank you very much.

“Gorgeously done,” Percy remarks and she beams at him. “Just one last thing.”

She throws her head back and groans.

“I’m sorry—sorry! Really. It’s just you should wait for the oven to preheat before you put the thing in so that it’s baking at the proper temperature the whole time.”

She makes a face.

“That seems trivial.”

“It’s science, Annabeth.”

“As you may recall I can only be held to account for my knowledge of physics.”

“As you may recall I prefer my food cooked.”

She pouts, the stressed crinkle between her eyebrows returning as she does.

“I give up, I’m not cut out for this,” she says, throwing herself forward onto the little kitchen island.

“I think that you are very much cut out for this,” he tells her. “But whatever, you don’t need to learn to cook. I’ll do it for us.”

She raises her eyebrows at him.

“For the rest of my life?” she asks, and he feels his face heat up.

“Well—yes.”

The bluntness of his response must shock her because her face drops and she straightens.

“That’s not to say that we’d be—I mean, I’m not—you’re one of my best friends. I plan on keeping you.”

She grins widely, then.

“Good thing you threw out that receipt, huh? I happen to be ineligible for return anyway.”

He laughs a bit, relieved that she seems to have let this go, and he wants to smack himself silly. He is barely two years into college. He is _not_ planning his future with the girl he met in September. Not even if that girl is Annabeth Chase, light of his fucking life.

Well, maybe he’s planning it just the tiniest bit.

It doesn’t exactly help when she snakes her arms around his waist and buries her face in his chest, sighing so contentedly that it makes Percy's heart flip in his chest.

“You know you’re really very cute,” she mutters, and the flip turns into a triple axel jump.

“Just really very cute?” he asks, feigning disappointment.

He wraps his arms around her shoulders and pulls her in closer.

“I think maybe there’s some other more powerful adjectives we can use, don’t you?” he says.

“Oh, absolutely. Insufferable is one.”

“Certainly.”

“Wretched is another.”

“To be sure.”

“Unfairly gorgeous about sums it up, wouldn’t you say?”

He grins widely and kisses the top of her head.

“I would say, as a matter of fact. I happen to have been approached by many modeling agents in Central Park, thank you very much.”

She laughs brightly and shoves him away from her, then hops up onto the island. She spares a glance for the bag sitting near his front door and he raises his eyebrows.

“Has the time come for today’s sampling, then?” he asks, and she nods grimly.

“Afraid so. Think you can handle it, Coffee Boy?”

“I think my heart will probably beat itself out of my chest.”

She grins widely.

“Not so different from my usual effect on you, then,” she says.

He wishes he could deny it, he truly does, but there has never been uttered a truer statement.

He narrows his eyes at her and purses his lips.

“Fair enough,” he mutters, and she smiles so brightly it nearly blinds him.

~

“Hey.”

Percy jolts awake to someone elbowing his ribs and looks over to find Annabeth slumped over their table in the library.

“You fell asleep,” she whispers, and he rubs his eyes.

“I’m too tired for this,” he mumbles. “I think I’ll just fail.”

She gives him a hard look and he pouts and drops his head into his arms.

“I can’t study anymore tonight,” he insists. “My brain is mush.”

“It’s only one am,” she informs him, and he groans.

“ _Only_? I have to go home, Beth.”

She grimaces.

“Weak.”

He gapes at her and she purses her lips.

“Sorry,” she mutters. “Sometimes I forget there are people in the world with normal sleep schedules.”

He smiles a bit and moves his head to her shoulder.

“I’m gonna catch the bus,” he mumbles tiredly. “I’ll see you tomorrow, ’kay?”

“Shut up, you’re not taking the bus,” she says. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

“Annabeth—”

“Percy, it’s snowing and it’s late and I’m not letting you get hit by a car walking on the side of the road, okay? I’m driving you.”

He lifts his head to rest his chin on her arm and knocks his forehead into her temple.

“You’re nice,” he mutters.

“You’re sleep-deprived,” she responds, scratching at the nape of his neck.

He gets chills as she does and sighs contentedly.

“Feels good,” he mumbles.

“I’m sure.”

She takes her hand back and he pouts at her, but she just bops her nose against his forehead and starts gathering her belongings. He sighs and packs his own books, tugging his hat down over his ears. Annabeth hefts her giant backpack on her shoulders and nearly falls backward from the weight of it, and Percy laughs a bit as he steadies her.

“Do you want me to take some textbooks or something?” he asks her, and she shakes her head.

“No, this is my cardio for the week,” she breathes.

He laughs and she grins widely, throws on her scarf. Percy adjusts it for her so it covers her whole neck and she grabs his hands and kisses his knuckles. His stomach warms at the gesture and he kisses her forehead and interlocks their fingers.

“Come on,” he mutters, and they head out into the cold night together.

Once they get to her car they huddle up in front of the vents, waiting for the heat to warm them up. Annabeth raises her shoulders up to her ears and pouts, vaguely reminiscent of a distressed marshmallow under all her layers, and Percy grins widely. She is so damn cute he thinks his heart may explode.

“I can’t look at you,” he says, covering his eyes. “I don’t understand how you look like that.”

“Like what?” she asks, almost offended.

“Like that! All bundled up and adorable. It makes me sick.”

She laughs and pulls at his wrists.

“You’re out of control,” she says, and he shakes his head.

“ _You’re_ out of control. I’m going to combust.”

She laughs again and Percy peeks at her between the cracks in his fingers. She smiles a soft little thing, and he thinks he really might drop dead on the spot. Her cheeks and nose are pink from the cold and she is buried under her scarf and hat and those fucking earmuffs and all he wants in the world is to hug her until his muscles give out but there is a console in their way and he’s still not exactly sure where they stand.

“It’s coming down really hard,” she mutters, turning on her windshield wipers. “We might have to just drive super slow.”

He knits his eyebrows.

“I don’t think you should drive me all the way back. It’s too much. I’ll walk from your place,” he says.

“Percy, I’m driving you so you _won’t_ have to walk back in this weather.” She pauses. “If you’re so worried I’ll just stay the night by you guys. If that’s alright.”

He rolls his eyes.

“Obviously it’s alright.”

“Well, it’s settled, then.”

She puts the car in drive and they head toward Percy and Jason’s apartment. The ride is silent as they both focus entirely on the road ahead of them, not daring to distract each other. The wind is blowing so hard the snow in front of them just looks like a white wall, and it takes them double the amount of time it usually does to reach their destination. Once they arrive they run inside the building, holding onto each other so that they won’t slip on the slick pathway.

Percy is not at all concerned about their sleeping arrangements until, as they brush their teeth together, warm and changed into dry clothes, he informs Annabeth he will be sleeping on the couch and she nearly spits her mouthful of toothpaste all over him.

“What?” she demands once they have spit and rinsed, and he knits his eyebrows. “I’m not going to make you sleep on the couch.”

“It’s a comfy couch. And _you’re_ certainly not sleeping on it.”

“Well, then I suppose we’re sharing your bed.”

“Well—oh.” He feels his stomach do a little flip. “Are you comfortable with—”

“I wouldn’t suggest it if I wasn’t comfortable with it, Percy. Are you?”

“Yeah, yup, uh-huh.”

She narrows her eyes at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Seems like maybe you’re not.”

“No! No, I am—I am. It’s just…well…”

“Spit it out.”

“I’m a cuddler,” he blurts, and she stares at him. “Like, in my sleep. I find whatever is in my reach and I squeeze like a fuckin’ boa constrictor and…I’ve been told it’s unpleasant.”

“Oh.”

Her arms drop to her sides.

“You’re afraid you’re going to squeeze me to death?” she asks, a small smile playing on her lips, and he pouts.

“You’re making fun of me.”

“I’m not.”

She is. Her smile is so wide her face may as well split down the middle. She is so beautiful it hurts.

“Fuck off, you can sleep on the couch,” he says, pushing past her and heading towards his room.

“How dare you—”

He breaks out into a run and she chases him, makes it inside before he can slam the door in her face. Jason pounds on the wall and yells at them to shut the fuck up and Percy and Annabeth stifle their laughter. She climbs up onto his tall double bed, pulling back the covers, and he shuts the door with a gentle click.

He needs a moment, really. Because she is here and she is wearing his clothes and she is in his bed and there is not a single sexual thought running through his head but he may as well have the world’s dirtiest mind for how quickly his heart is pounding in his chest.

He fucking loves her. He loves her, and she is here with him, and she might love him, too, but she is not ready. And that’s okay, it is, but he knows that the second he lies down beside her, the second they share that small space, he will never want to leave it. And when he does leave it, everything will become infinitely harder to bear.

“Coming?” Annabeth asks gently, and he turns around to find her cuddled up beneath his covers.

He nods mutely and shuts off his light, then takes a deep breath as he climbs in next to her. She pulls back the sheets for him and throws them over him once he’s settled in and they lie on their sides, facing each other, two people who cannot be together. Not yet, at least.

“Hi,” she greets quietly, and the lights from outside his window illuminate the room just enough for him to make out the small smile on her face.

“Hi,” Percy responds, smiling just the same. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Shut up,” she laughs, shoving his shoulder, and he catches her hand.

He intertwines their fingers and she shuffles closer to him, until they share a pillow. They are quiet for a few moments, just breathing together, and Percy tries to will his heart rate to go down, hopes against hope that she cannot feel his pulse racing where their wrists press together.

“So,” she begins, “do you still enjoy cuddling while awake, or is it strictly an unconscious act for you?”

He grins widely.

“I enjoy cuddling all hours of the day in varying states of consciousness, actually.”

“That’s interesting considering how I am very much un-cuddled right now.”

“Perhaps I don’t want to cuddle you.”

“Perhaps you’re a bitch.”

He laughs a bit and lifts his arm and she tucks herself beneath it, burying her face in his chest. Her hair smells like citrus and heaven and she tightens her arm around his waist and he thinks he might die here, in his shitty apartment in his shitty room in his shitty bed with the world’s most incredible human being clinging to him like a lifeline.

“God, you’re warm,” she breathes into his chest, and she shoves her cold toes against his calves.

He sucks in a sharp breath and bumps her head with his chin but pulls her closer to him still.

“Oh wow, you weren’t kidding about your death grip, huh?” she croaks, and he immediately goes to release her.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m—”

“No, stop, come back,” she whines, pulling his arm back around her. “I like it.”

“You _do_?”

She nods, nuzzling her nose into his neck, and he thinks he might faint.

“It’s nice. Makes me feel safe.”

“You know the phrase death-grip usually makes people feel unsafe.”

“Well, I’m not people. I’m just me. And I love it. I love—” she clears her throat, and he could swear his heart has stopped beating, “the cuddles. Um. Very good. 10/10, I’d say.”

“I’m glad,” he mutters, then pauses and squeezes his eyes shut. “I love them, too. Very much. They’re soft and warm and—blonde.”

She freezes for a moment before she exhales a shaky laugh and he undoubtedly feels her lips brush against his throat. He rests his own at the top of her head and tangles his fingers into her hair, scratching little circles into her scalp with his thumb.

“Mine have some very green eyes,” she mutters. “So green sometimes I think they must be fake or something. But then they kind of just—look into you, I guess, really see you. And you know that nothing in the world could be more real.”

“Well your cuddles sound incredibly sexy,” he says instead of acknowledging how her statement makes his stomach go wobbly. 

She laughs and bites his shoulder. 

“Ow, hey—are you some kind of animal?” he complains.

“All humans are animals.”

“Are you some kind of _feral_ animal who bites people for fun?”

She giggles.

“Lots of people enjoy being bitten.”

“Oh my God, you are such a child.”

She laughs for real, then, as if she is the funniest person on Earth, and Percy joins her, because, well—it’s contagious, isn’t it? The way her entire face lights up, her eyes crinkle, her joy radiates out of her in waves of sound and motion. It’s all too much to bear.

“Are you ever not the most adorable person alive, do you ever give it a rest?” he asks once she’s settled back against his chest, and he feels her smile into his neck.

“It’s a job I take very seriously, actually. No days off.”

“Hmm,” he hums into her hair. “Maybe it’s for the best. Who knows what that kind of power could do in the wrong hands.”

“You think it’s in the right ones?”

“I think it’s in the only ones I trust. Even if you are a gremlin.”

She laughs and it turns into a yawn and Percy realizes they are not doing the one thing they are meant to be doing.

“Okay, shut up, time to sleep,” he says, and she pulls back from him just to gape at him.

“Are you _serious_ —”

“Sh, I’m resting.”

He shuts his eyes and he feels her flick his forehead. He catches her hand and kisses the heel of her palm and tugs her back into his chest.

“You know, you’re very rude,” Annabeth mutters, and he knits his eyebrows and looks at her in confusion. “You always talk about how cute I am and then you act like _that_. You think I’m not gonna turn up my cuteness to 100 with you in the room, you sick fuck?”

He laughs from his belly and she frowns at him and he laughs even harder at her indignant “hmph.”

“I have half a mind to walk out of here right now,” she says, and he rolls his eyes.

He wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her into his chest one last time, drops a kiss on the top of her head.

“I’m gonna miss you when the semester ends,” he mumbles.

“Me, too,” she says. “I can’t believe I’m going to live through finals only to go home to that dragon.”

He pouts.

“You should just come home with me.”

“I _wish_ ,” she groans. “I would pay one million dollars to be able to. But Mrs. Chase is expecting me, and God forbid we upset her.”

“Hmm,” he hums. “Just gonna have to FaceTime a bunch. I’ll introduce you to Sally.”

“Is it too presumptuous to say I’d like Sally to adopt me?”

“Not at all, everyone wants Sally to adopt them.”

“Well, then I’d like Sally to adopt me.”

“I’ll file the paperwork and get back to you.”

“Maybe we just get married,” she yawns. “Then I’ll be her daughter by default.”

He smiles widely and hugs her a little closer.

“One day,” he says, and she sighs through her nose.

“You know when you say it like that I almost believe you.”

“Perhaps you should get into the habit of believing me.”

“Perhaps you’re out of your mind.”

“Perhaps,” he mutters quietly.

“Go to sleep before you propose,” she laughs, and he smiles widely.

“Technically you’ve already proposed to me.”

“Technically you’re a little bitch.”

He sighs heavily, then.

“How you wound me.”

“Percy, go to sleep!” she laughs, exasperated, and he grins.

“Okay, okay,” he says. “Goodnight, Beth.”

“Goodnight.”

She nestles her head into his chest and they are quiet for all of thirty seconds before:

“Do you think animals have an internal monologue?”

“Shut the fuck—oh, shit, _do they_?”

They fall asleep trying to talk at the same time, their words a mumbling mess, and all Percy can think about is how he's never been so comfortable on his lumpy mattress before. He'll try to chalk it up to his new sheets. If Annabeth snuggles herself closer into his chest and he instantly feels warmer, well—that's just a coincidence, of course. 


End file.
